The Development and Validation of the People Perspective Questionnaire

Abstract

The purpose of this study was twofold: first, to develop a measure (People Perspective Questionnaire; PPQ) that assesses a dimension previously proposed, stating that a characteristic or trait exists, whereby some people perceive others as similar to each other and some perceive others as more unique or different from each other as compared to one’s self; second, to administer and assess the reliability and validity of this measure among Caucasian and African American participants. In Study 1, 445 Caucasian undergraduate students answered the PPQ together with other measures on racism, aggression, ethnic identity and collective selfesteem. For Study 2, 179 African American undergraduate students answered the same measures. The PPQ has very good reliability coefficients that are consistent among Caucasian and African American samples. This measure also evidenced very good convergent validity with the criterion measures. The PPQ is a useful measure of person perception in the dimension proposed above. It may also be helpful in further understanding aggression and racism, and it might be useful in assessing the effectiveness of racism reduction and diversity-training programs.